Notre Dame, Ind. – The Holy Cross women’s basketball team battled back from a big early deficit but couldn’t complete the comeback, falling 77–68 to Governors State on Wednesday night inside McKenna Arena.
After struggling through a cold start, the Saints found their rhythm late, outscoring the Jaguars 46–32 in the second half — including a 27-point fourth quarter — to pull within single digits in the closing minutes.
Junior forward Brock Bittermann led Holy Cross with a strong double-double performance, tallying 16 points and 11 rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting. Sophomore guard Allie Caldwell added 15 points, six rebounds, and a pair of three-pointers, while junior guard Sincere Coleman-Fran chipped in eight points and four boards.
Off the bench, Laney Hawkins provided a much-needed spark, scoring 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, and Malea Steele added 4 points to help the Saints’ reserves outscore Governors State’s bench 29–4.
The Saints shot an efficient 45.1% from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc while knocking down 72.7% of their free throws (16-of-22). Defensively, Holy Cross won the rebounding battle 33–29 and recorded seven steals.
Governors State, now 4–0 on the season, built a commanding 45–22 halftime lead behind a red-hot start, shooting 84.6% in the first quarter. The Jaguars’ Cencere McDaniel poured in a game-high 26 points, while Alexis Warren added 21.
Holy Cross (1–4, 0–1 CCAC) showed resilience down the stretch, closing the game on a 19–4 run before running out of time.
The Saints will look to bounce back into their next matchup when they travel to face Saint Xavier on Saturday November 15th.